Obama administration to announce controversial emissions cap on power plants

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1) The actions of other nations do not absolve the US of its responsibilities to reduce emissions.
2) The US is still the 2nd largest emitter in absolute terms, and one of the highest per capita.
3) Other nations are reluctant to do anything, when they see the US (a big and affluent polluter) do nothing. So yes, this will encourage other nations to take action.

It really isn't.

This is typical begging the question. IF you accept that CO2 is "pollution" then the US is unclean.

But CO2 isn't pollution.

Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he stops voting for the Free Fish party.

nah, i think we should build a **** ton of nuclear (i prefer thorium, from what i've read about it) and renewables. blanket the country with windmills like they have done in my town (they're actually pretty neat,) solar panels in the desert, and hydroelectric in the ocean. that would be a hell of a good start, IMO.

Probably no eco-problems caused by any of that, right? Nice the way didn't even read what I said.

"He who does not think himself worth saving from poverty and ignorance by his own efforts, will hardly be thought worth the efforts of anybody else." -- Frederick Douglass, Self-Made Men (1872)
"Fly-over" country voted, and The Donald is now POTUS. #MAGA

Let's say you are 100% correct. Do you really believe that by the U.S. doing ALL of this, while the rest of the major countries like China, Russia, etc. do nothing that it will make the "difference" needed to turn the tide? The U.S. is already a "clean" country compared to the rest of them while the other countries are full steam ahead INCREASING their CO2 output.

Point being that until you get countries like China and Russia on board, forcing the cuts, forcing the increase in costs, is doing nothing but hurting Americans and crippling our economy. And my point is only assuming you are 100% correct. I don't believe you are, so basically you are crippling the U.S. economy, while hurting Americans. Good job!

We are also the richest and the world leader. It is our job to be the role model for other countries to follow. China is the biggest polluter by far, we are second, Russia is a distant fifth. We need to help China transition to clean energy and the first step in that is doing it ourselves and leading the way.

We can make the excuse that everything we do to combat this is going to be hard so we shouldn't do it. We can do that until the consequences wreak havoc and cause far more damage than the mitigation would have costed. Or we can be responsible, put a few bucks aside for the future and give our children a world that was hopefully at least as decent as the one we inherited.

No conspiracy. Just the facts. Go back to Obama's first Climate Change czar, Carol Browner.

Browner was picked for the position because her stance is on the same page of this administration. And if anything, Obama and the left have shown us that they are willing to make people poor and shrink their incomes, slow economic growth, and implement feckless policies like Obamacare and feckless energy policies that cause hardships for many Americans making them poorer by the day. The less money they have the easier it is to shrink the economy and lessen their consumption.

Probably no eco-problems caused by any of that, right? Nice the way didn't even read what I said.

any ecological problems will probably not be as bad as fossil fuels. however, i'm not really looking at this from an environmental view. i'm looking at it from an energy independence / 21st century tech / jobs / kids will no be beholden to asshole dictators point of view. the fact that it will probably be better environmentally is a great side benefit.

either way, what Obama is proposing isn't the way i'd choose to do it.

Yes I'm sure progressives would just love it if everyone who speaks out and questions the motives of the left would "just stop". No doubt. But while you do your part to sound the alarms and ratchet up the rhetoric on CO2, more and more polls are showing a decline of concern among the masses not just in the U.S. but globally. And when folks start experiencing the increases in their energy bills a direct result due to forced regulations based on unsettled science promoted by scientists funded by socialist leaders across the globe, progressives may be forced into hiding.

We are also the richest and the world leader. It is our job to be the role model for other countries to follow. China is the biggest polluter by far, we are second, Russia is a distant fifth. We need to help China transition to clean energy and the first step in that is doing it ourselves and leading the way.

We can make the excuse that everything we do to combat this is going to be hard so we shouldn't do it. We can do that until the consequences wreak havoc and cause far more damage than the mitigation would have costed. Or we can be responsible, put a few bucks aside for the future and give our children a world that was hopefully at least as decent as the one we inherited.

We need to help China with their transition? Say what you really mean....U.S. taxpayers need to pay for it. You are willing to make people poor and decrease their standard of living with less consumption and exuberant prices for energy while forcing them to pay for others to "conform" to this so called science that is unsettled. What a scam to bring about global governance.

Yes I'm sure progressives would just love it if everyone who speaks out and questions the motives of the left would "just stop". No doubt. But while you do your part to sound the alarms and ratchet up the rhetoric on CO2, more and more polls are showing a decline of concern among the masses not just in the U.S. but globally. And when folks start experiencing the increases in their energy bills a direct result due to forced regulations based on unsettled science promoted by scientists funded by socialist leaders across the globe, progressives may be forced into hiding.

You're probably right. Most people aren't very scientific and will take the seemingly easy way out. This is why agw is such a terrible problem. Down the road we will pay dearly for these missteps promoted heavily by the ignorant right.

What scientists recommend that the US unilaterally curb carbon emissions and give our competitors an advantage?

That we curb emissions. This issue is many magnitudes larger than a perceived economic disadvantage from mitigation strategies. We can do things in an intelligent manner than minimize potential losses. If you listen to the right they will scream at the top of their lungs that we are slitting our own throats, like they do about everything.